It is important to manage water resources of the upper Yellow River basin for the new Silk Road
economic belt. In recent decades, under the combined human activities and influence of climate,
the hydrologic regime of the upper Yellow River basin shows remarkable variations that have
caused many issues. So potential human indicated influence has been drawing increasing attention
from hydrologists and local governments. The aim of this study is to determine the changes
in the hydrological characteristic parameters and mean annual runoff series of the upper Yellow River
basin. This paper took the representative Lanzhou Station in the upstream Yellow River as an example,
used the TFPW-MK mutation test and rank sum test to analyze the location of the variation points
of hydrological series. By contrasting two different analysis results between natural and measured river
runoff series, the impacts of human activities on the long-term hydrological regime were investigated.
The variation range of hydrological ecological indexes before and after variation were analyzed by
the method of indicators of hydrologic alteration (IHA). The results show: a) the hydrological series
of Lanzhou Station is a significant decreasing trend can be observed in the natural stream flow series
in 1985 with a high degree of hydrological variability, while human activities play an important role;
b) various ecological indicators have changed in different degrees that have caused the deterioration
of ecological conditions around 1985; and c) continuous decreasing stream flow in the upper
Yellow River basin will trigger serious shortages of fresh water in the future, which may challenge
the sustainability and safety of water resource development in the river basin, and should be paid great
attention before 2020. Variation analysis and diagnosis of eco-hydrological indexes in the upper reaches
of the Yellow River can provide a basis for the development, utilization, and protection of water resources
in this area.